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tv   Erin Burnett Out Front  CNN  March 18, 2013 8:00pm-9:00pm PDT

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>> wow. >> i have no idea what that means and i doubt you do, either. >> i do, actually. i watch mixed martial arts. i'll explain it to you later. thanks very much. we'll be right back. we ran out of time for the "ridiculist." we'll be back one hour from now, another edition of "360" at >> is it time to make a deal with republicans? and a terrifying discovery on a college campus in florida. guns, bombs and a plan. let's go "out front." >> good evening, everyone. out front tonight, message in a bomber. the pentagon announcing it's going to be flying nuclear-capable b-52 bombers
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intended to send a signal to north korea's leader. now, north korea intends to send some strong messages of its own. we have a new video that we found posted to a semi-official government web site in north korea. second one that we foupd that depicts a north korean attack on u.s. soil. the other which was posted to the same website last month showed a nuclear strike on new york city set to the song "we are the world." "out front" tonight, the ranking member on the intelligence committee joins us. good to see you, sir. i appreciate you taking the time. i want to ask you first about this video that we found, the second one as i said in over a month. these are propaganda videos put out by the government. but they're new.
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and just this week north korea said they could launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the united states. i mean you're on the intelligence committee. should the united states be seriously preparing for something even if it's a dirty bomb placed in an american city or is this all bluster? >> look, we have to be very serious about any threat attacking the united states or killing american citizens. and also as it relates to south korea, 100% with south korea. they're our allies and we need to also stand behind them. now kim jung um is a young, immature leader. he is 28 years old. he is now in charge of a government and a country that will not allow his own people to leave the country. they're treated terribly in a bad situation and he's the type of individual that really concerns us. we don't know what he's like. he's immature. he has no experience in rung government. one day his father died and he becomes the leader.
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we know that north korea for a long period of time, their whole mode of operation basically is threatening. but we also know that they're dangerous. they have nuclear weapons. they have ballistic missiles. and we have to take that very seriously. the secretary of defense hagel took a position that we're going to improve and add more defense to any type of missile that can come on the west coast of the united states, alaska and also california. >> i want to ask you about that. first, the deputy secretary of defense is in seoul today for the joint military exercises i referenced. he said north korea's threats would deepen the commitment to seoul and that u.s. budget cuts wouldn't alter our defense of south korea. we have 30,000 troops in seoul, second only to afghanistan. that is a massive commitment. with all the cullbacks in the defense department, isn't this a scenario that has to be up for trimming just by definition. >> we have to prioriize and always be on top of the national security when it deals with american lives and threats from other governments, terrorist
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groups and issues like that. got news even with the issue which is really a problem that needs to be resolved is that when it comes to the department of defense, they have the ability to be able to prioritize where the money goes. under this new threat of north korea, we have to stand strong and we have to make sure we do whatever we do. because we don't know what this leader is like. we don't know what he's going to do. and whether or not there is going to be provication. >> a recent poll shows two-thirds of south koreans want to develop nuclear weapons. they support that. should south korea have them? >> absolutely not. not only should south korea not have them but the other countries in that region. we can't have nuclear countries with nuclear power positive protect themselves. that's why the united states needs to stand behind their allies. but there is another issue here, too. china. china needs to stand up against north korea. you know, the united nations, the sanctions that were voted on in the united nations, one of
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the first times that i've seen china vote against north korea, they -- china has their own issues and they don't want the volatility of war occurring in their region. and north korea is in the southern part of china. so we need to keep working with china. and this is something that's positive that china is now starting to stand up and work with the united states and with the other people in the region to make sure that north korea doesn't continue what they're doing right now. >> let me ask you a little bit more about china since obviously they're so important here. china is now saying that america's decision to bolster its missile defense system on the west coast would only antagonize north korea. gordon chang, the author of "nuclear showdown," he said last week that china has been selling north korea missile launchers for a missile. i wonder if you think china is saying the right thing but behind closed doors building up north korea against the u.s. as a back doorway to avoid having to confront the u.s. itself.
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>> well, look, the first thing to relate to the fact of china criticizing -- for increasing our defense, our missile defense, everything has to be on the table when it comes to protecting american lives or having another country threaten to attack the united states of america. we will do whatever we have to do that is legal and pursuant to all the international issues to protect our citizens. so china can -- has a lot of rhetoric. china is doing a lot of things we're concerned about now. there are cyber attacks, issues like that. but the good news is that china, for the first time, stood up against north korea. china is the only country right now that can really tone down the rhetoric and tell the new leader of north korea that enough's enough and that we're not going to tolerate these threats and your nuclear issues anymore. >> the national security adviser said something strange last week that i want to play for you. here he is. >> the united states will not accept north korea's nuclear state nor will we stand by while
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it seeks to develop a nuclear missile that can target the united states. >> now congressman that, comment confused me because north korea is a nuclear state. during years of american sanctions, the country, of course, tested and then developed a nuclear weapon. so i guess the question to you is, as a member of the intelligence committee, is there no red line for north korea until they launch a weapon that is capable of hitting the u.s. homeland and the predent is now going ahead with president bush's missile defense program? >> let me say this -- when another country threatens to attack your homeland, kill your people, we have to be ready and we will always do what we have to do to protect. remember, we have been in south korea for a long time. so we understand the north koreans. we know their strengths and weaknesses. we're going to make sure that they do attack or provication
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against our allies such as south korea, japan, taiwan, that we're going to be ready to assist them and to help them. >> thanks very much. still "out front," the president is sliding in the polls pretty significantly. has he lost leverage with republicans? what does that mean for whether your taxes are going up? and stephen colbert talks about his sister running for office and is talking about being white racist of itself. a war of words over race in america tonight. it's monday. a brand new start. your chance to rise and shine. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you can do just that. with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile.
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our second story "out front," poll plunge. the president's approval rating dropped eight points in eight weeks. that is dramatic. he is 55% back in january. now he's at 47%. it doesn't look like the charm offensive charmed the public. "out front" tonight, two of our contributors from the national review and a former pollster for president obama. good to see both of you. that drop seems pretty dramatic. >> it seems dramatic. another way of looking at it is that is roughly where he was for much of his first term. so he is basically going back to that level. there is a moderate recoveringry but it's not a roaring recovery.
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>> i'm sure you're glad that he didn't try to go after you harder on this one. it seems to met president's come out and he's taken a tough stance, he says taxes need to go up on wealthier americans. he's been going out and meeting with republicans. he's been on a charm offensive and talked to the american people. given that, i thought it might have gone higher. >> i think we need context here. look, americans are very frustrated with washington overall. you're going to see everyone's numbers take a hit here. however, i do think that media does a disservice when we try to set the false equivalents. yes, the president's number has taken a hit. "the washington post" poll showed republicans at a 72% disapproval. that is 72% disapproval of republicans. and even in polling, democrats
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still have an eight point advantage of favorability over republicans. so the idea that president's numbers are slipping and he somehow has to bow down to republicans is missing the point. >> i will say, by the way -- >> they are slipping, right? >> the cnn poll and republican party has an unfavorable 54%. so it is a little worse. fair point that cornell brings up. what can the president do about it? if the numbers are going down, right, when you're trying to say i want to do something in congress, those two things don't seem to go together. >> 47% is not a disaster for the president. but i think that's pretty much his level. i think 55% was unusually high and wasn't very sustainable. now it's especially true that republicans are faring very poorly as well right now partly because republicans look divided. when you control the white house, then you control the narrative to some degree. when you're not controlling the
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white house, you don't don't have a unified figure to rally around. necessarily, you focus on the divisions of opinion among republicans. so i think that there's very little the president can do because frankly 47% is roughly capturing the number of folks who reliably and support his agenda. >> unusual numbers. 47% obviously reminds me of somebody else. but cornell, let me ask you this. the president has been making a big stand saying, look, i haven't been the spender that people have tried to portray me as. we don't have a debt problem right now. he said this guy against him john boehner, but i just want to play something kind of indecreed thabl happened over the weekend. here is the president and here is john boehner. >> we don't have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. >> we do not have an immediate debt crisis. >> he just seed the moral high ground there? >> that is fairly amazing. by the way, democrats will be
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running that for a while now. i think it goes to the point where most americans are actually focused on jobs and economy, erin. they're not focused on the debt. i think you have that captive sort of republican grass root that is focused on the debt and trimming back federal government. and they've captured the sort of republican party. but the vast majority of americans are more focused on the economy and creating jobs and building stable middle class than they are on cutting the deficit. yeah, the deficit is an issue. it's not the number one issue. >> why, boehner do that? we don't have an immediate debt crisis. you would see that in the market, right? so boehner is say ing the truth. it is against what he's been saying which is the debt is a problem. why did he do that? >> he said we need to address it over the long term. that means taking steps now. but here's the thing, he is actually opening the possibility that republicans move to more favorable ground because right now the problem is that republicans are emphasizing have been emphasizing root canal economics, only fiscal austerity rather than a more positive agenda. by conceding the point that we don't have an immediate debt crisis, then can you raise some questions.
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so for example, senator patty murray said let's get rid of the loopholes and deductions. now republicans say, sure, let's do that. instead of sending money to washington, let's make the child tax credit bigger. let's offer middle class tax relief. let's do things that actually put pressure on the spending that president obama wants but puts that money in the hands of those middle earners who are burdened by the social security payroll tax. this is an idea that is gaining a lot of currency among republicans but very difficult for patty murray and the obama administration to follow up on. >> well, but it fits in with what the president wants which is to give more tax relief to the middle class. i simply have to say as i always do, that though is something that flies in the face of what a lot of economists and former president clinton say have to happen over the long term which is taxes need to go up on the middle class. >> the president has been questioned about fairness and saying if you look at sort of the way that dow is going, you look at sort of the incredible profits on corporations. they're not paying their fair share. but to go back to the issue at
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hand, i really think the speaker -- >> how do you define fair, cornell? if you tax 100%, you don't get rid of the debt problem. so what is fair? >> i think it is a visceral main street issue. when working americans are paying sort of more taxes than warren buffett, i think you get the sense that it not fair. when you have large corporations and big oil companies raking in huge profits and not paying taxes that, is not fair. >> if you look at the oil companies marginal tax rates, you would be shocked. they are on average the big oil giants pay more than the statutory rate. but to his point, other companies do not. but they stand out as people who do pay. >> it's an issue where the companies who pay low corporate tax are sometimes the big large incouple incumbent companies like ge that president obama champions regularly. these are companies that are --
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more regulation ins lats large firms that are also able to take on more debt than start-up companies. when you look at the complicated landscape, if you have corporate tax reform that, would arguably benefit a lot of the start-up that's would be taking on large incumbents that can borrow more easily. saying we have high corporate profits and we should tax them more confuses the issue. >> however, from a purely political sense, can you not tell the average american who is paying their fair share of taxes and looking at warren buffett and mitt romney and the lack of taxes they pay and argue that is fair. >> warren buffett pays corporate taxes. >> he himself says he is paying less taxes than his secretary. >> when you look at that and the portrait of the own tax liability. fair enough. >> you take that case up with warren buffett. that's what he is saying. and when you look at sort of where corporate america is sort of profiting and american middle class wages are stagnant, you can't look at this and say that's fair. >> i agree. high corporate profits are a problem. regulation exacerbate that's problem and limits at built of
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startups to take on the companies. that's why even in mexico taker taking on the version of warren buffett for the very good reason that's the way you get jobs and growth by having more entrepreneurship and more growth and high corporate tax that are biassed towards the ges and buffets of the world is a burden. >> it's a weird argument to say we need more regulation when corporations are sitting on record profits. >> that happens to be true. >> gentlemen, thank you both very much. still "out front," new revelations about the teenage wloer killed 26 people in connecticut. and stephen colber rarely breaks character to talk about something serious. he is a human like all of us and he loves his sister. did he that today speaking to cnn. and glenn beck tweets this actor playing satan looks like someone famous. was it a joke or something much worse? . our third story "out front," colbert comes clean. he talks about politics a lot,
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as you know, alter ego with the same nature on the late tv show. he accident often talk politics as the real stephen colbert. he did when he sat down with my colleague jake tapper to talk about his sister's run for office. >> it takes real talent for a fake anchorman care about the news but he pulls it off with ease. and these days when he's not playing the part of a pundit, he is helping his sister enter the same world that is always the butt of his jokes, politics. with a screeching eagle, and a cocked brow, his report has resonated with audiences for nine seasons and counting. >> yes! >> reporter: the one time protege of jon stewart has his own wax figure, a bathroom adjacent painting at the national port rat gallery and a few pea body awards. >> i'm enormous. >> am i still? >> yes. >> oh, good. >> you couldn'ting bigger. >> and now, stephen colbert is breaking character to dip his toe into real politics. supporting his sister elizabeth who works in business development at clemson university and running for congress as a democrat in their home state of south carolina. this is the first actual election you got involved in? >> yeah. yeah, this is the first one. >> i don't think anybody would begrudge you trying to help your sister. >> exactly. she's my sister. good right.
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>> i'm willing to, you know, break the jewel of my own creation to try to do something for her. like i'm not worried about what it would do to me or my show to try to help her as myself, not as my character. but to help her as myself and, you know, if people think that's not the right thing for me to do, i don't care. it's my sister and i'm willing to help her. >> so you think she would be a great public servant? >> i met these people. and my sister is in the top. >> check out more of my interview. >> we should check that out. still our, please discovered a dorm room full of guns, bombs and a plan to kill. and why is david hasslehoff staying a stand in germany? and he's not eating cheeseburgers. the one thing that 99 percent of investors can expect to find
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and welcome back to the second half of "out front." we start the second half of our show with stories we care about, where we focus on our reporting from the front lines. and tonight we begin with new details about the killer in newtown. three months after adam lanza took the lives of 20 children and six adults at sandy hook elementary, we're learning he prepared for it meticulously. "the new york daily news" reports he had seven foot long spread sheets which contained extensive research on mass murderers of the past. the connecticut state police would not confirm those details for us but did say sensitive information has been disclosed. and update on mali. according to al qaeda in the islamic magreb is looking for recruits to fight crusader france. aqim is urging youths to join. an expert tells us northern mali
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is a safe haven for terrorists for more than a decade. as of late, it's become a complete country to them. as soon as france leaves, though, next month they say they will return. and a major break today in the largest art theft in history. it was a heist that took place 23 years ago. the fbi came out, i mean this is incredible. they know, they say, who stole 13 precious art works, valued at $500 billion. they were stolen from isabella's gardener museum in boston in 1990. but here's the incredible thing, people. the fbi won't name the suspects because of the statute of limitations. it's run out. they cannot charge anyone with the theft. okay, so somebody or some people now have a rembrandt and vermier which they can sell on the black market. it's never been recovered. the lesson is this, if you want to steal art, do a good job and keep it hidden long enough and you won't go to jail. i don't know how else to
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interpret that. the ncaa tournament kicks off tomorrow. we're serious about march madness here at cnn. we have our own bracket challenge. our jay bell says we're not alone. he is founder of pregame.com and tells us more than 100 million people worldwide are expected to wager more than $12 billion on the bracket. it won't be a slam dunk. my bracket will be a slam dunk to beat if you're in any way decent i'm the anti-hoop after all go. to cnn.com/brackets. it's been 592 days since the u.s. lost the top credit rating. stocks dropped a bit today over a controversial bailout for cyprus, an island country in the mediterranean. the dow fell, the s&p 500 fell. the good news is experts think this is a hiccup. and now the fourth story. signs of a deadly attack. a former university of central florida student was found dead in a dorm room of an apparent
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suicide. but also there was a gun, there was a backpack and it was full of bombs. but what may be even more clilg are the notes that police found indicating a planned attack. "out front" tonight richard barrie from the university of florida police department. i appreciate you taking the time. what can you tell me about this man, 30 years old, james oliver who was he? why was he planning this attack? >> well, right now, you know, trying to get the background investigation and find out what made him tick is all under investigation. we do know he was 30 years old, had been a student there, had been a loner and very kind of anti-social behavior. >> now what -- we were talking about the gun, the backpack, the ieds that you found. what about these notes? >> well, when our officers found him, we did -- there was a handgun and a tactical rifle. inside a backpack as we were
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searching the premises, we found what we would consider four ieds. so we had to have the explosive ordinance unit come and dispose of those and we're working with the fbi now to try to find out exactly what those materials were. >> do you have any idea how he got the devices or whether you built them himself? what is your instinct right now? >> all the indications are that he built them himself. >> wow. do you -- in terms of motive, again, i'm curious about the notes that you found indicating he was planning an attack. do you know what he intended to do with all of this? >> no. it wasn't clear what the attack was going to consist of. however, he did have a time line of how he was getting ready and preparing and then in the end he would just give them hell is the quote that he used in the time line. >> sow said give them hell. it's unclear who they were? >> that's correct. who they is, is unknown at this
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time. however, our investigation is continuing. >> now before police arrived, the fire alarm went off at the dorm. do you know if this was connected to this or was that the grace of god? >> actually, all indications are that actually the deceased activated the fire alarm before going back inside and arming himself. >> so when you put together the dots that you have now, i know that you're still figuring things out, i know you're working with the fbi, but do you believe a major deadly attack was averted at the university of central florida? >> there's no doubt in my mind. clearly, his aim was to injure people. we believe that the activating the fire alarm was an opportunity to get people out of their rooms and put a lot of people possibly into his targets. but we had some luck on our side and we got a 911 call so we were able to respond quickly and bring it to rapid conclusion. >> and do you have any sense of a motive at this point? any sort of online activity that you were able to pick up or
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anything yet? >> no. so far he's been a lone wolf. we found very few ties. he did not have a lot of friends. one of those people that really and truly flies under the radar and had some anger issues. but no outward signs. no issues with law enforcement in the past. so he was just truly one of those that are out there and he made up his mind and set a time line and put a plan into place. >> which is so terrifying. when you were telling me that he assembled the ieds, sir, do you think that -- i mean i guess this is people can do this on their own with what they can obtain and hardware stores, online and nobody can find out about it, right? i mean that's one of the lessons here. >> absolutely. you know, with the age of the internet and a little bit of research, unfortunately, people have the ability to make homemade bombs and homemade devices. and i think that's what we're going to find in this particular
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case. however, like i said, we will -- we have sent samples to the 04:13:11:fbi crime lab. >> all right, chief. we're so glad that you were able to avert an attack that you saw and appreciate you are taking the time. david hasslehoff is trying to save the berlin wall, seriously. and a controversial magazine cover ignites firestorm over race s there no way to talk about being white in america? the editor is "out front" next. we're here! we're going to the park! [ gina ] oh hey, dan!
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barrow island has got rare kangaroos. ♪ chevron has been developing energy here for decades. we need to protect their environment. we have a strict quarantine system to protect the integrity of the environment. forty years on, it's still a class-a nature reserve.
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it's our job to look after them. ...it's my job to look after it. ♪ tonight we go to germany. demonstrators are fighting to save the berlin wall.
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among them, david hasslehoff. i asked him about the hoff. >> reporter: erin this is a piece of the berlin wall that is in question. it's the east side gallery. it is about a mile long. it is full of pictures and a tourist magnet in the german capital. now a real estate developer wants to tear down part of the berlin wall that is still left. of course, thousands of people have been demonstrating against that. among them is david hasslehoff. he showed up on sunday and sang his famous song "i've been looking for a freedom" which is the soundtrack for the walkoming down in 1989 during the revolution back then. and, of course, many people here in germany still like david hasslehoff. he has a huge fan base in the country. that is one of the reasons thousands of people showed up to watch him sing. >> looked like a lot of people. and now we go toinda. another brutal gang rape led to outrage and demonstrations. a horrific story, this time a
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victim a swiss tourist. her husband was also beaten. i asked our reporter what happened to the couple. >> reporter: erin, just a few months after the deadly gang rape of a young student in new deli, another gang rape reported in india. this time the target is a swiss tourist. the 39-year-old woman was traveling across india with her husband on a bicycle. they've been here since early february and cycling from the city of mumbai all the way up to north to agra where the famous taj mahal is. authorities say the couple had camped out over the weekend in a very remote part of central india and that's where a group of men robbed the couple and raped the woman. now authorities say six men have confessed to their crimes. they've been arrested. and they've been presented before a local court. but the swiss woman has yet to identify the suspects. erin? >> thanks. now let's check in with
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anderson coop we are a look at >> now, a lot of the article, and you should read it, the entire thing, it's really en anecdotes and stories about how they feel. she told them blacks use skin color as an excuse. instead of moving forward. it's a shame. paying taxes, they're not doing anything except sitting on porches smoking pot. the city's mayor michael nutter called the article a pathetic, uninformed essay that allowed the author to feed his own misguided per spepgs. and largely criminal. i spoke to the editor of the philadelphia magazine tom mcgrath earlier and asked him to respond to that allegation by the mayor. >> i think the mayor has mischaracterized what the story is about. the writer went and talked to
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some white people in a certain neighborhood in philadelphia. they got their views on race. a number of those views were incredibly ugly and bigoted. a number of others were incredibly empathetic. the writer's own views on this are certainly not bigoted in any way. so i'm not sure why the mayor is describing the story the way he has been. >> he also brought another example up that stood out to me when he goes into the wawa he was saying in this neighborhood, the neighborhood about which he wrote the story, he holds the door for black people at the wawa longer than he would for white people and he writes about that saying on one level such self consideration consciousness can be seen as sensitivity to the race. race remains the elephant in the room, even on the absurd level of who holds the door to enter a convenient store." then he continued, in so many quarters discussing race is seen as a racist thing.
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white people are stuck, dishonest by default as we take a pass on the state of this city's largely inner black city and settle for politely opening doors at wawa before we slip back into our own lives." an article in ebony magazine wrote about this article saying this is a reminder of what contemporary racism looks like, polite, discreet, even timid. do you gr we that criticism or do you think that hewbert was really calling out an unfortunate truth? >> well, i think what he was trying to say with the door anecdote is there is a hyper sensitivity about race and that well meaning people try and do things that sort of overcompensate in order to be polite, in order to sort of let's have the spirit that we can all get along. the problem can become if people of either race feel inhibited from saying what they honestly think about any issue at all. and i that i is what he was trying to get watt that example. >> clarence thomas wrote the cover article in this week's week in review in "new york times" on affirmative action. justice sotomayor is also
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talking about that issue. it seems race is it more in the forefront lately. do you believe in the premise of the article which is that people are afraid to talk about race or do you think that that in and of itself was more meant to be a provocative statement rather than a reflection of reality? >> i think there are clearly some people would are afraid to talk about race. and i, you know, that's one of the reasons we did the story. i think the only way we move forward on this is if people no matter what they think about this issue feel free to say what they think. i think it's impossible to move forward on things if people keep feelings hidden. i'm actually, as much as people criticized the piece, i'm actually happy to hear that, too. people get to xbres that they think. >> were you excited when the mayor sent this letter to you? you had to be in a sense. you're trying to get people to talk and be controversial. this has to be a victory for you on some level, doesn't it? >> well, i mean i was excited in the sense that part of what the
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mayor said he is wanted the human relations commission in philadelphia to open their own investigation into race in philadelphia. which was exactly the reason we did the story. i was less excite by the fact that the mayor also asked the human relations commission, a portion of the government, to actually rebuke the magazine for having done this story. i find his logic bizarre. he wants to have a conversation yet he wants to rebuke the folks who actually started the conversation. >> all right. i want to bring in nationally syndicated talk radio show host michael vedvev and camille charles. let me start with you. the magazine editor, tom mcgrath, he said don't blame the messenger. we're trying to have a conversation. do you think the way they conveyed their message though, let's talk about race, was racist? >> no. i mean, to say let's talk about race is not racist. and, you know, we throw the word racist around sometimes far too easily. i think it was insensitive in
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some ways and it left african-americans in philadelphia feeling left out of that conversation because african-americans have to think about being black in terms of the way that white society thinks about black people. and the reverse is also true. so to exclude them from that conversation is a little bit problematic. but i think a bigger issue. is that the author of the article lives in one of the most favorably integrated neighborhoods in the country. it's roughly 50/50 black-white and solidly middle class. i live two miles from that wawa. and people do talk explicitly about race in that community. on the other hand, he chose to go to a neighborhood, and, remember, philadelphia is one of the most segregated cities in the country, he chooses to go to a neighborhood that is extremely segregated not only by race, but
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also by class. so in some sense, you've got middle class whites bumping up against some of the poorest blacks in the city. so all of the negative stereotypes that have been problematic throughout history, are more likely to be concentrated in those communities. so that adds to the difficulty in talking about race. but it also changes the conversation fundamentally. and i think another thing to think about it is in the same way that blacks don't like to be thought about as a monolithic or singular community that all thinks the same way, whites don't, either. and to portray this as all whites in philadelphia is problematic and whites should be troubled by that, as well. >> interesting point. michael, what do you think about the context that just this weekend, we found out that whites in america are going to be a minority in the next 30 years and that will be to a flurlty of blacks, hispanics and asians. but it is an interesting time, even just seeing the word whites
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anything is not the way we're used to seeing it phrased. let's be honest. >> well, what i think was foolish about the article, and i think the article is profoundly stupid. i don't think it's racist. everything that is racist is stupid. but not everything that is stupid is racist. this is stupid. and stupid to say this is being white in philadelphia. there are many different ways of being white in philadelphia. and one of the things that mr. huber does in the article, he starts out talking about people who are from, in one case, in russia. and in the other case, panama, who are not native philadelph n philadelphians. and it's not just the african americans in the city of philadelphia. what i think is problematic here is the overreaction by the mayor. the fact that he wants -- >> a four-page letter. >> a commission -- yeah, surely, mayor nutter has better things to do right now. philadelphia has bigger problems than a foolish article that was
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foolishly titled. if they had called the article something about a one-neighborhood problem or some white people have retrograde attitudes, it would have been fine. but being white in philadelphia and they're going to define this based upon the comments of an emigre who says all black people spend their time smoking marijuana and popping out babies? yeah, that's pretty offensive. >> i think we all agree with that. but i think you read it and share with us your opinion. thanks very much to michael and camille. "out front" next, statements and glen beck. ♪ to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wireless is limitless. [ female announcer ] from tracking the bus.
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mark burnett and his wife, roma downey. it is, as the name implies, a retelling of the scriptures from genesis to revelation. this weekend, right wing radio host glenn beck tweeted something about the show. quoting beck, quote, anyone else think the devil in "the bible" sunday on history channel looks exactly like that guy? that guy is what glenn beck calls president obama, mainly because he doesn't respect him enough to use his title. according to beck, the actor who plays the devil in the series looks like the president. beck has his followers which is why his tweet took off. since the broadcast, more than 20,000 tweets containing the words obama and satan have been posted. the producers of the show called any resemblance utter nonsense. today, beck took to twitter again and not to clarify. he said this. media, relax. actor has been in similar roles before.
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funny, nothing more. for different reasons, the bible is one of my fave shows. keep watching. actor has been in similar roles before. in the world of glenn beck, that means he's definitely a ringer for the president because this isn't the first time he's made that comparison. >> let me play devil's advocate and may mean that literally, and argue for the president here for a second. some of the book of revelation crazies out there actually believe that barack obama is the antichrist. is it possible that barack obama is the antichrist? there are people and they said this about bill clinton that actually believe he might be the antichrist. the government is acting in the role of lucifer. >> there are people, yeah. at least beck's not alone. there is one other person who compares the president of the
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united states to the devil. not that guy. this guy. he said the united states has quote, entrusted themselves to the devil. despite what beck says, his tweet had a purpose. "anderson cooper 360" starts piers morgan live is next. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers.
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